The Virgin Otrada

Hand-Painted icons of  the Mother of God – Otrada (“Joy or Consolation”). This icon type is characterized by Mary holding the hand of her son away from her mouth. The motif of the merciful Mary saving humans from the wrath her son — “staying the hand” of Jesus — is very much in keeping with the general beliefs of both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians in the Middle Ages, and partly accounts for the high veneration in which Mary was held.